Typical vehicle body structures include structural pillars support portions of the vehicle such as the roof. As an example, most vehicles include structural pillars referred to as “A-pillars,” which are positioned adjacent to a windshield and forward of a front door of the vehicle, as well as “B-pillars” that are positioned rearward of the front door of the vehicle. The A-pillars and B-pillars of vehicles function to support the roof of the vehicle and to define an opening into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
The size of each structural pillar is selected such that the structural pillar satisfies certain strength requirements. For example, structural pillars are usually designed to provide a certain degree of resistance to deformation during a crash. Typical solutions for increasing the strength of structural pillars include increasing the amount of material used to make the pillar such as by enlarging the cross-sectional size of the pillar or by increasing the thickness of the walls of the pillar, or using a high strength material. Typical materials are high strength steels such as boron steel. These approaches increase the weight of the vehicle and/or compromise sight lines out of the vehicle.